9 things that should be added to your Sri Lanka family holiday
Wildlife observation, rainforest exploration, action, and adventure activities, with plenty of fun with sun, sea and sand make Sri Lanka Family Holiday perfectly fit for any type of fun-loving family.
Table of Contents
- 9 things that should be added to your Sri Lanka family holiday
- Adding a bit of adventure to your Sri Lanka family holiday
- Sri Lanka family holiday with Ayurveda
- Cultural experience
- Sampling delicious food is part of the Sri Lanka family holiday
- Exploring rich wildlife on your Sri Lanka family holiday
- Cultural triangle of Sri Lanka
- Diving and snorkelling in Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka family vacation and Sun, sea, sand
- Adding a beautiful train journey to your Sri Lanka family holiday
Wildlife observation, rainforest exploration, action, and adventure activities, with plenty of fun with sun, sea and sand make Sri Lanka Family Holiday perfectly fit for any type of fun-loving family. A tour to Sri Lanka is like a turning up almost everything in one’s life-the volume with busy roads of Colombo, colourful markets where buyers bargain for various goods, the historical bliss in the cultural cities of Sri Lanka and the brightness with the sight of palm-fringed sandy beaches. This is a perfect opportunity to make your Sri Lanka family holiday on an adventure through the west, south and central Sri Lanka, through the national parks, historical monuments, and Sri Lanka hill country, and then go to the pristine beaches to relax and float all worries on the waters of the Indian Ocean.
We believe now is the time to organize the best Sri Lanka road trip with improved security and a peaceful environment. For most travellers, Sri Lanka was out of their map for a long time, due to the political unrest that prevailed in northern Sri Lanka. The heat of the civil war was felt in the rest of the island with destructive bomb explosions and shooting incidents. Today after almost 10 years since the end of the civil war, Sri Lanka has become one of the most peaceful nations in the world.
“Land like no other”, Sri Lanka is truly a heaven for world travellers with a fascinating combination of culture, history and 3S (sun, sea, sand). Sri Lanka is becoming a heaven for nature lovers as well as adventure enthusiasts too. For most travellers, Sri Lanka is at the top of their travel bucket list, and the number of foreign travellers in Sri Lanka is considerably increased during the past several years. Now (2017) the number of foreign tourist arrivals exceeds 2 million, which is four times higher than the arrivals reported in 2010. Sri Lanka has become a very popular country in southern Asia for tourism purposes.
Well, it’s back. According to the National Geographic Traveler UK, a world-renowned magazine, Sri Lanka is one of the coolest holiday destinations to travel to in 2018. Federal Bureau has also identified Sri Lanka as one of the safest destinations to travel to. So isn’t it the time to travel to Sri Lanka, and buy one of the Best Tour Packages in Sri Lanka?
According to most travellers, the best Tour Packages in Sri Lanka should be essentially included a beach stay and several sightseeing tours. There is so much to discover in this fascinating holiday destination you can’t forget the countless number of important cultural, historical and natural attractions. On the other hand, you can’t miss the endless pristine beaches around the island too.
In a multicultural society with diverse cultural events, primaeval rainforests, thousands of years old historical cities, cascading waterfalls, and colonial remnants the list of attractions are endless. Dip in the vibrant colours of Sri Lankan wildlife, explore the Ceylon tea, check out the fragrant spices and pamper yourself on the palm-fringed pristine coast can be easily added to one of our best Tour Packages in Sri Lanka.
The best tour packages in Sri Lanka will take a few days out of your life and create the feeling that you are hanging around somewhere incredible, and it should be designed to please. Seerendipity tours design your best tour packages in Sri Lanka at an affordable rate, all our tour packages can be customized in whatever way you wish. We are a truly Sri Lanka company with a head office in Colombo and no involvement of any third party.
Most tour packages offered by seerendipity tours include cultural and natural sites with amazing beach time towards the tail end of the tour. We believe, such a combination would be a perfect mix to explore a unique destination like Sri Lanka. Your best Sri Lanka tour package can be wrapped up in the west coast or southern coast beaches depending on the time of the year you travel.
If you travel to Sri Lanka from November to April the western or southern coast is the best option for your beach stay. If you hit the island from April to November head to the east coast for your Sri Lanka beach holiday, because dry weather prevails in the region.
Due to the monsoon patterns which soak up the beaches during the rainy season travelling to the west coast from April to November can disrupt your holiday. Same time travelling to the east coast from November to April can cause you to be stuck in the hotel due to torrential rain. Therefore carefully choosing the beach hotel is very important to make it your best tour package in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is a heaven for culture-loving travellers and this sun-drenched holiday island offers stunning views of the central highland of the country. Therefore, all best tour Packages in Sri Lanka should essentially include some time in the mountains.
Is your camcorder ready don’t forget to keep your eyes ready to capture the beautiful scenery along the way! you can traverse the beautiful countryside, laid-back villages, and tea, rubber, and coconut plantations explore the Yala national park, visit Horton plains national park to spice up your knowledge of wildlife, and explore the verdant valley and lush green mountains in the Sri Lankan hill country.
9 things that should be added to your Sri Lanka family holiday
- Adventure activities
- Ayurveda holidays
- Exploring Sri Lankan culture
- Eating Sri Lankan food
- Exploring wildlife
- Visiting cultural triangle
- Upcountry rail journey
- Diving and snorkelling
- Beach tours
Adding a bit of adventure to your Sri Lanka family holiday
There is so much to do on the adventure front in Sri Lanka, that adventure lovers can immerse themselves in an endless number of activities. Rock climbing, mountaineering, whitewater rafting, trekking, and mountain biking are the list of adventure activities available in Sri Lanka is endless. Apart from land-based adventure activities, there are endless possibilities with regard to water-based sports such as diving, snorkelling, water skiing, speed boating etc. With the beautiful settings of Sri Lankan nature, we believe a dash of thrilling adventure activities should be added if it is to be one of the best tour packages in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka family holiday with Ayurveda
The best tour packages in Sri Lanka can be easily spice-up with a twist of Ayurveda. Ayurveda massage with sauna adds extra comfort to your holiday while relieving your stress. Add an Ayurveda massage to your tour package that is widely offered in many parts of the island.
Helpful link: Sri Lanka holiday with Ayurveda
Cultural experience
Best Tour Packages in Sri Lanka should essentially be enriched with experiences alone with scenic beauty and thrilling adventures. After all, Sri Lanka is one of the few countries in the world that boast to have thousands of years of old unbroken civilization.
Sri Lanka is one of the best places for you to experience a new culture. Don’t forget to visit the mask folklore museum in Ambalangoda and visit Kandyan cultural show, and catch up on folklore from the locals: the most suitable way to learn Sri Lanka’s culture.
Sampling delicious food is part of the Sri Lanka family holiday
There is a noteworthy difference between Sri Lanka’s food and the food of other Asian countries such as India, and Thailand. One particular difference is the use of spices. In the Sri Lankan context almost every recipe, especially the curry is prepared with many varieties of spices and condiments, which makes a direct impact on the colour and the flavour. Most Sri Lanka curries are very spicy and it is a noteworthy difference compared to dishes from other Asian countries. Authentic Sri Lankan lunch consists of rice and several curries. Sri Lanka is especially popular for fresh seafood, so don’t forget to drop into a seafood restaurant on the beach resort and try a spicy crab dish on your visit to Sri Lanka.
Exploring rich wildlife on your Sri Lanka family holiday
Sometimes the most unexpected memories are generated in unexpected places. When thinking about wildlife, especially seeing the big cats, undoubtedly it is Africa that comes into one’s mind. Even though Sri Lanka is not a top-notch wildlife holiday destination, Sri Lanka offers amazing opportunities to spot wildlife, it may be a surprise to you, but it is real. Yala, the wildlife reserve in southern Sri Lanka is popular for leopards and offers amazing opportunities to spot these big cats.
Even in Africa, it might not be so easy to spot leopards as in Sri Lanka. In most cases, you have to spend hours in the jeep and travelling all around the reserve to spot a single leopard in Africa. But in the Sri Lankan context, you will be able to spot leopards, elephants, crocodiles and many other animals within 3 hours of safari at Yala national park. Yala records the highest concentration of leopards (panthera pardus kotiya) in the world and it is estimated to be 17 ½ big cats per 100 square kilometres.
A network of National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and safe passage between them Known as “Elephant corridors” provides a very safe environment for wildlife that delights animal lovers of all ages. However, it is not that easy to spot animals and birds in the jungle due to their elusive behaviour, usually, the children have no patience to find them – unless you have an idea where to look.
Udawalawe elephant orphanage and conservation centre is a grassroots elephant conservation operation located next to the Udawalawe national park, occupies the land between Udawalawe wildlife reserve and Udawalawe Lake, which is one of the best attractions to include in the Sri Lanka family vacation, most importantly it is a place for kids.
The conservation centre is under the management of the Sri Lanka wildlife conservation department and it is maintained by the funds allocated by the government. The elephant orphanage is a conservation centre and a research centre that acts as a safe house for sick, orphaned and old animals.
The elephant is declared an endangered and protected animal in Sri Lanka since 1975, the population of the wild elephant is shrinking day by day due to many reasons such as human-elephant conflict, Habitat loss, killing the animal for tusks etc. However, the opening of Udawalawe and Pinnawala conservation centres as well as making them protected animals has created a positive picture of the existence of these Asian jumbos. Despite the many hardships for the animals, they have been able to maintain a high population in the wildlife reserves during the last several decades, numbering more than 5800 wild elephants.
At Udawalawe elephant orphanage the visitors can see a large number of freely wandering wild elephants of different ages. The best time to visit the orphanage is feeding time, during the feeding time, a large number of animals is gathering to get their milk portion. The orphanage of Pinnawala has created an impressive result by rescuing thousands of orphans, sick and old animals since its inception in 1995.
From the main entrance of Udawalawe national park, which is about 1 km from the orphanage, local jeep drivers and guides organize Udawalawe jeep safari for visitors, which allows the visitors to have an up-close introduction to groups of elephants residing here. The elephants are wild, but they are harmless as long as the visitors stay in the jeep, and more importantly, the jeep drivers have a good idea about where the animals are roaming, so the children can easily see the elephants grazing in their natural habitat.
Along with elephants, the kids can spot many other animal species such as Jackal, wild boar, deer, monkeys, mongoose, monitors, snakes, wild buffaloes, crocodiles, and a large number of avian fauna species. Perhaps you can even spot a leopard and bears; however, it is difficult to spot those varieties at Udawalawe national park.
Helpful Links: Sri Lanka safari Yala national park
Cultural triangle of Sri Lanka
The entire cultural triangle of Sri Lanka is an archaeological wonder and it is 5 hours away from Colombo. It is difficult to overlook the Cultural triangle if any travellers wish to have one of the Best Tour Packages in Sri Lanka. The cultural triangle of Sri Lanka is one of the several places in the world, where Buddhism flourished and experienced its heydey for many centuries.
Many cities in the Cultural triangle such as Anuradhapura were teaching centres for Buddhism and were visited by monks from many countries such as India, China, and Burma. Today Cultural triangle encompasses many UNESCO world heritage sites such as Sigiriya rock fortress, Dambulla golden cave temple, Tooth relic temple and harbours a large number of ruins of many gigantic dagobas, palaces, image houses, living quarters of monks that existed many many thousand years before.
Helpful Links: a Cultural triangle of Sri Lanka
Diving and snorkelling in Sri Lanka
The diving and snorkelling spot in Sri Lanka is different based on the season and decide by the monsoon. There are two seasons mainly, each lasts 6 months, western and southern coast and eastern coast. The best time to dive on the west and southern coast is from November to April while six months from April to November is the best time to dive on the east coast.
There are several good diving spots on the east coast near Trincomalee. The pigeon island marine national park is the best of all dive sites on the east coast. here you have the opportunity to spot a large number of tropical fish species as well as coral reefs. You might even be able to spot blue whales and pods of dolphins.
On the west coast beach, Hikkaduwa is the best place for a dive and Hikkaduwa marine sanctuary harbours a large number of fish species, coral reefs, and sea turtles. If you stay in southern Sri Lanka head on to Unawatuna to find a good dive site. There are many shipwrecks off the coast of Unawatuna where you will be able to spot coral reefs and many fish species.
If you do not wish to get wet but still want to see the fascinating underwater world off the Sri Lankan coast, the best place is Hikkaduwa, where you can hire a glass-bottom boat and see the corals, fish, and sea turtles in the sea. The boat tour lasts about one hour and the cost for the boat is around USD 10 P.P. Unfortunately, this facility is available only in Hikkaduwa. The coral reef in Hikkaduwa is much larger than in Unawatuna and contains more marine life than in other places.
Sri Lanka family vacation and Sun, sea, sand
Being an island Sri Lanka boasts clean and sandy beaches suitable for beach holidays at any given time of the year. Sri Lanka is s perfect spot for all kinds of saltwater activities; it is a distinct advantage for the island in the race to be a family-friendly holiday destination because kids like to hang around the beaches.
Surfing, windsurfing, boating, and kayaking are some of the lightweight thrilling adventures for older kids. The activities such as snorkelling are offered to kids at the age of around five or six years, enabling them to explore the rich underwater world of Sri Lanka.
There are many family-friendly beach resorts along the west and southern coast of Sri Lanka, which is one of the best-kept secrets for the popularity of Sri Lanka family vacation among travellers; however, Bentota is the biggest seaside resort town and the most popular for Sri Lanka family vacations with a wide range of activities, a large number of places to visit and a large number of hotels in all budget categories.
The unique location of Bentota beach with salt water on one side and river water on the other side is ideal for most water sports available on earth. Many water sports centres have set up their activity centres along Bentota River giving easy access to the delightful ground for travellers of all ages.
Most resorts are suitable for a family vacation and offer hours of entertainment for in-house kids with their animation team, this ‘animation staff offers many interesting activities for kids like children’s yoga sessions, jungle tours/nature walks, cycling tours, and many other activities suitable for little people. As the day winds up, families can take refuge in a beach cabana or a bungalow that is built in a way to hug the cool breeze of Indian Ocean, providing perfect settings for a sound sleep of little ones and caretakers.
Helpful Links: Diving and snorkelling in Sri Lanka
Adding a beautiful train journey to your Sri Lanka family holiday
Undoubtedly the train is one of the most affordable and convenient transport methods in Sri Lanka. There are many + points with the train journey, you can move whenever you wish to, you can buy food, you can interact with locals, listen to music, read and enjoy the breathtaking scenery passing by. There can’t be any more scenic journey than the train ride between Ella and Kandy.
The sceneries along the Ella-Kandy stretch are incredibly breathtaking, and this is the most popular train ride among travellers. The train journey lasts around 5 hours. The train tickets can be obtained from the railway stations. Trains in Sri Lanka are very crowded, especially in the morning and afternoon. If you wish to travel in an un-crowded wagon you need to buy either a 2nd class ticket or a 1st class ticket.
The number of seats available in 1st class and 2nd class compartments is limited, therefore advanced booking is highly recommended to guarantee the availability of seats in those compartments. 1st class observation compartment is most popular among travellers due to its wide-angle view over the scenery and usually, it is the last compartment of the train.
The train journey along the coastal belt is also beautiful, the stretch from Colombo to Negombo and Colombo to Galle is the most popular stretch for train rides among travellers. If you are hoping to take a Galle one-day trip from Colombo or from any other beach resort on the west coast, the train can be a good option for you.